Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 06:45:00 am

Author Topic: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017  (Read 8722 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Monkeymafia

  • Victorian
  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 104
  • Respect: 0
Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« on: November 10, 2016, 04:28:24 pm »
+3
Hey guys,

Discuss anything u need to!
« Last Edit: November 20, 2016, 02:06:48 pm by Monkeymafia »

Maddie Trinh

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Come to the dark side, we have cats and apples
  • Respect: +1
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2016, 02:11:06 pm »
+5
    Hi everyone, I did E.I this year and thought it might be beneficial to provide some feedback about the subject for anyone who is doing or looking to do the subject next year. If I have the time, I might post about how I specifically tackled each area of E.I (research question, critical thinking exam, final report etc.) but for now I’ll just be very general.


    Writing
    • One of the biggest myths in E.I, is that you have to be some kind of Shakespearean to do well when writing your sacs or final reports. In reality, this may be more detrimental to your mark as actual report writing tends to very different. The main focus is really whether you can be clear and concise when writing your report and how well you convey your arguments (this is the reason why the critical thinking exam exists as it wants to evaluate how good you are at judging the strength of arguments). More importantly, a succinct way of writing makes it easier for examiners who often have to go through numerous reports in a day, to better understand your research topic which is always a win-win.
    • Note being succinct does NOT MEAN dumbing down your report. Sadly, unlike many of the reports you'll read which can afford to be wordy, E.I has a word limit of 4000 words which really isn't a lot. By the time you have finished your third sac, you'll have already written approximately 1500 words of your report as much of your final report is built on what you previously wrote in your first and second sacs. However you'll have to expand the areas which you have already written on and may end up with only about 1500 words left for results, discussion and conclusion as was my case. That's why it's extremely important to be compact but still comprehensive in your writing for E.I   
    • Nonetheless, how eloquent you write is still very important and can play a large part in the impactfulness of your report. For those who are worried about their writing, you can do what I did which was to write for 10m everyday. I would go on websites like debate.org, pick a topic and write an argument either for or against it while preparing for the critical exam at the same time which is always a bonus. I also read/skimmed through many reports during the first term which prepared me for my first sac.
    • If you take a look at this research paper, this is the type of writing which you’ll probably end up doing in your final report. However don’t be alarmed as you’ll be so use to this style that by the end of the year you’ll have no problem with it. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http:/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/dpr28.pdf


    Get Friends to help/Motivation
    • One of the biggest helps you can get in this subject is your friends, someone you knew who did E.I or a teacher who has also undergone the research process. Since the process involves so much writing and planning, having a second eye to look over things is essential and is also an extremely important source of motivation in E.I which can dip halfway through the year. 
    To keep yourself motivated, try to find a lot of articles in the media about your topic. For me, I would spend ages watching buzzfeed and Ted-talk videos which related to my topic. ^^
    • During VCE, you often hear that working together is extremely important and this has never been more true for E.I. Most of the time, everyone in your class are already doing subjects which are so different that it makes no sense not to help each other. Really it's your class as a group which matters more because if everyone does well then all your sacs go up which means a higher study score. It's also important to note that there are only around three sacs in E.I outside of the critical thinking exam and the final report and oral meaning every sac is even more important in E.I than most other subjects. 


Don't slack off
  • Even though this was already mentioned in a previous thread I'm writing it again just to emphasize the importance of being consistent in E.I. E.I is the type of subject where it heavily relies on you to determine how much effort you want to put in the subject and consequently your mark. There is always a little bit of work you can do for E.I and is something students tend to ignore halfway through the year where there are months allocated just for completing your research. For many students who didn't take advantage of this opportunity, whether it was to draft questions for interviews, find participants, do experiments, they had to make up for it later in the year when the final report submission date was really close. Ideally you should seek to finish your final report well before the final submission date to get your report as polished as possible as you'll be under a lot of stress on the final day. Believe me, as someone who wrote their abstract (kind of like a mini introduction detailing the purpose of your report) on the day it was due, it's not fun.

Random advice about questions and research topic
--> Don't stress too much about finalizing your research question word for word at the end of term 1. Yes it needs to be locked in and you definitely don't want to be changing your topic all together but many students often tweak their questions to encompass new results which they found or make their questions more specific by the end of the year. For example, in my research it was clear that the location Australia was a very important part of my research so I incorporated that in my question in the final report.
--> Also make sure your research topic doesn't overlap with another unit in a different subject because VCAA will make you change it.
--> Furthermore, try and do a research where finding participants/or equipment for experiments isn't impossible. Many students often start off with topics which are very hard to study, for example I wanted to study non-violent revolutions which was a PhD subject and almost impossible at a high-school level to study. Two specific areas of the criteria used to measure research questions even looks at this; "Can the student gain access to appropriate and relevant primary and secondary sources?" and "Can the question be addressed by systematic and sound research methods?"


Well I think that's all the advice I have for now. For my final remarks I just wanted to say that E.I is a really unique subject and definitely one of my favourites. I really liked the freedom you had in E.I which was so different from other subjects. If anyone has random questions, go straight ahead and just pm me :)
« Last Edit: December 13, 2016, 02:16:03 pm by Maddie Trinh »

Monkeymafia

  • Victorian
  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 104
  • Respect: 0
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2016, 02:21:11 pm »
0
Thanks Maddie!

clarke54321

  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1041
  • Respect: +365
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2016, 02:28:47 pm »
0
Thanks very much Maddie. This is a fantastic summary, which has some very useful advice!  :)
BA (Linguistics) I University of Melbourne
Tips and Tricks for VCE English [50]

Essay Marking Services in 2021 for VCE English + Essays for Sale

clarke54321

  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1041
  • Respect: +365
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2016, 10:48:41 am »
0
Hi Everyone,

For extended investigation, is it acceptable to research a topic/area, where extensive research has been carried out?

I don't want to be replicating someone else's research, however I feel that I need others research to fuel my own.

Thanks!
BA (Linguistics) I University of Melbourne
Tips and Tricks for VCE English [50]

Essay Marking Services in 2021 for VCE English + Essays for Sale

Maddie Trinh

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Come to the dark side, we have cats and apples
  • Respect: +1
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2016, 04:11:51 pm »
0
Hi Everyone,

For extended investigation, is it acceptable to research a topic/area, where extensive research has been carried out?

I don't want to be replicating someone else's research, however I feel that I need others research to fuel my own.

Thanks!

Hi Clarke,

Just wanted to say that it's perfectly acceptable as long as the focus of your research doesn't mirror that of another researcher. As you read through past literature, you'll find that reports themselves are often replete with references to other research which take an in-depth look at the same field of research. Rather the main difficulty in E.I (and really any other type of academia research when it comes to finding a topic) is finding a specific 'niche' or 'gap' in your area of research which others have not endeavored to answer. Something which you can research while potentially providing new information of importance to your area of research.

Maddie

clarke54321

  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1041
  • Respect: +365
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2016, 07:04:34 pm »
0
Hi Clarke,

Just wanted to say that it's perfectly acceptable as long as the focus of your research doesn't mirror that of another researcher. As you read through past literature, you'll find that reports themselves are often replete with references to other research which take an in-depth look at the same field of research. Rather the main difficulty in E.I (and really any other type of academia research when it comes to finding a topic) is finding a specific 'niche' or 'gap' in your area of research which others have not endeavored to answer. Something which you can research while potentially providing new information of importance to your area of research.

Maddie

Thanks Maddie!

I agree that finding a gap in research will be/ is the hardest part of Extended Investigation. How did you eventually find yours? Did you just keep on reading through literature and so forth?

Also, how did you know that no other academic/researcher had replicated your own topic?

Sorry for all the questions!  :)
BA (Linguistics) I University of Melbourne
Tips and Tricks for VCE English [50]

Essay Marking Services in 2021 for VCE English + Essays for Sale

Maddie Trinh

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Come to the dark side, we have cats and apples
  • Respect: +1
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2016, 10:28:36 pm »
+1
Thanks Maddie!

I agree that finding a gap in research will be/ is the hardest part of Extended Investigation. How did you eventually find yours? Did you just keep on reading through literature and so forth?

Also, how did you know that no other academic/researcher had replicated your own topic?

Sorry for all the questions!  :)

Hey Clarke,

It's awesome that you're asking a lot questions so there's no need to apologise. :)

Personally, finding my topic was a really long road. I definitely read a lot of past literature and it was often references which I found in other reports which were most influential in helping to determine my topic. However, I did have one thing that I was adamant on and that was my research was going to be centered around people. From there I searched through numerous newspapers, online journals, blogs and other such mediums to figure out what was currently important and interested me the most. From how technology influenced the Arab Spring to the way western culture influenced  eastern societies' perceptions of food, I was practically all over the place. I won't go into massive details to avoid boring you but speaking to others especially my teacher was also a massive help. This might sound really cliche but focusing on a topic personal or fascinating to you is a really good way to go as well. My final topic was about refugees and it had a personal touch for me as many people close to me had been refugees at one or more points in their lives.

Determining whether your research is unique is a little bit more difficult. At first when you have a general topic you'll find that many of the questions you have are very common, but tweaking it a little to encompass a geographical location, time, people etc. should lead to a pretty unique question in it's own right most of the time. As you look for past research to read you'll also obtain an idea of how similar or different your research is from others in the field. For example for me, practically no research had done the same thing as I did and as such I had both more freedom and difficulty because I needed to use the existing past research I had in more flexible ways.


Maddie

 

clarke54321

  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1041
  • Respect: +365
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2016, 10:35:29 pm »
0
Thanks once more Maddie. Your advice is really guiding me with this subject!  :)

Did you begin your EI journal once you had a good idea of your topic? Or, did you document all of your thoughts/discussions throughout the researching phase? I have been documenting all of my findings thus far, however it looks as though I keep jumping from topic to topic. Is this a problem?
« Last Edit: December 29, 2016, 11:03:24 pm by clarke54321 »
BA (Linguistics) I University of Melbourne
Tips and Tricks for VCE English [50]

Essay Marking Services in 2021 for VCE English + Essays for Sale

Maddie Trinh

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Come to the dark side, we have cats and apples
  • Respect: +1
Re: Extended Investigation Discussion Thread 2017
« Reply #9 on: January 02, 2017, 01:22:44 pm »
+1
Hahaha no worries

About the E.I journal, I actually started mine about now. At the time, I still had no idea what I was researching but I found that having one place to document all my thoughts was extremely helpful. From the earliest stages of E.I right up to the period where I was gathering data, I was still writing in my journal and didn't really stop until the report writing period.

To avoid your journal from becoming too messy, I recommend getting in the habit of dating all of your entries regardless of how trivial they may seem. Furthermore if you have any pre-existing files, to at least put a link somewhere in your journal for easy access. I like to think of the E.I journal as a paper trail of your research and ideas, as such it's best to use it as so. If you have any ideas or research which you find interesting, put it in because ultimately it's there to help you.

I have been documenting all of my findings thus far, however it looks as though I keep jumping from topic to topic. Is this a problem?

I would be genuinely surprise if any E.I student had a complete idea of what they were doing at this stage.  To reinforce this point, even VCAA gives you to the end of term 1 to find your topic! For now, just have fun researching and developing potential ideas.